For a quick primer, when a country joins, or is set to join, the WTO, one of the things it must do is ensure that its domestic trade laws and policies are in compliance with the provisions of TRIPS. This is to make sure that the intellectual property rights of copyright, trade-marks, patents and industrial designs, and the interests these protect, aren’t swept under the rug in the face of commerce. More detailed info on TRIPS can be found here, and how the agreement came to be what it is, is here.

TRIPS and Emerging Countries

A thing to note is that TRIPS allows different time-periods (called “transition periods“) for developed and developing countries to arrange their internal legal affairs and get in line with its provisions; because compliance is mandatory once you become a WTO-member, aligning your national trade laws with it is inevitable; the only question is how long you’d have to do so.

It’s always interesting to see where the emphasis falls, when I do one of these. Words, and their power, are always awe-some.

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About: Mekhala Chaubal

Mekhala is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School, Canada with an interest in all areas of intellectual property (IP) law in a transnational context, privacy rights, and the development of IP in emerging economies. She is currently immersed in learning about innovation, entrepreneurship and the finer points of patent, copyright and trade-mark law as IP Legal Assistant.